More from the colorful-superficiality school of education:
On March 30, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou attended a teaching demonstration. The event features an indigenous language class for elementary school students.
The Mayor appeared at the occasion dressed in indigenous attire. He greeted the audience in Hakka, Taiwanese, and indigenous languages.
Mayor Ma noted that the variety in Taiwan’s indigenous culture is a blessing given by God. It has a positive effect upon the development of local society by making us more aware of the importance of diversity. However, it is not an easy task to preserve all of the indigenous languages. The Indigenous Peoples Commission promised to continue its effort in preserving these valuable treasures by committing more resources in the field of education.
Ma hopes that indigenous students will be able to learn simple greetings in their mother tongue, and even sing a song or two in that language. This will be a great help to preservation efforts.
(emphasis added)
Ahem.
And this is from Ma’s own Taipei City Hall, not a source with an axe to grind against him.
source: Mayor Speaks on Indigenous Language Education, Taipei City Government Web site, April 3, 2006, accessed April 21, 2006
Unfortunately, this seems to be the goal of the current DPP mother tongue language policy as well. Nobody is really interested in anything more than symbolic gestures. In my research I found most school teachers similarly feel that there is no point in teaching native langauges in school and that they should be taught at home in and in the community. Of course, such an attitude overlooks the historical role of schooling in destroying these languages in the first place …
It seems like most people ought to be capable of learning multiple languages to a reasonable proficiency. Somehow this simple idea gets lost in inadequate instructional and testing methods.
Undoubtedly preservation will be achieved — in a jar.